When I think about my pre-teens, I often am brought back to a time of awkward arguments with friends, embarrassing social situations and grueling anxiety that I couldn’t seem to get the upper hand with. But once those utterly tragic memories pass, I am left thinking of my childhood idol: Bethany Mota. Bethany began her career as one of the original social media influencers all the way back in 2009, when she started her YouTube channel titled “MacBarbie07.” Bethany started out with makeup tutorials and fashion reviews before finding her footing within the D.I.Y. and life hacks market.
At her prime, her videos captivated millions; garnering thousands of likes, comments and shares within a matter of minutes. Bethany went on to do several tours, create a clothing line with Aeropostale, write a book, create a school supply line with Target, compete on “Dancing With The Stars” and even create her own jewelry line. She also made sure that during different seasons, her channel’s aesthetic matched the seasons.
Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the leaves changing colors, pumpkin spice lattes brewing and the feeling of a crisp autumn breeze on my skin. To say that it is incredible would be an understatement–I yearn for fall. Halloween parties are practically a ritualistic experience for me, and cultivating the perfect costume keeps me going from November to October. But nothing in this world gets me in the mood for autumn the way that Bethany’s videos do. So for my first fall away from home, I decided that the best way to get in the spirit was to go back to my roots. It had been years since I’d rewatched Bethany’s videos, and I really wanted to see what I had been so obsessed with. I pulled up YouTube on my laptop and scrolled all the way down to 2013 on Bethany’s channel. I struck gold. I decided the best way to really consume these videos was to watch in order. I wanted to remember why Bethany’s videos had been such an integral part of my yearly fall activities.
Starting with one of my favorite videos of all time, I decided the best way to relieve Bethany’s glory days was to watch a room decor video. As a child, I wanted to decorate my room to look just like Bethany’s. Room tours were some of her greatest videos, so when she would teach her viewers some easy ways to recreate her decorations. Looking back, it’s obvious that her tips are all pretty simple decorating ideas; but to me, it was revolutionary. Despite the simplicity of it all, I know that had my mom let me, every last decoration in this video would have been in my bedroom. I was also pleasantly surprised by the music being used in this video–Taylor Swift AND Lorde! She even made a Taylor Swift inspired piece of room decor: “quote wall art.” She quoted “All Too Well!” I knew I put my faith in the right YouTuber!
Another classic for Bethany were her morning routines. My personal favorites were always the fall ones, mostly because I loved how aesthetic everything was. I didn’t even like coffee when I was little and I still insisted on trying a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte because of her. Looking back now, it’s funny to think that when I was little, I genuinely believed she filmed the videos first thing when she got up in the morning. Morning routines are actually entertaining to watch for me to this day, and now that I’m more interested in makeup I enjoyed it a lot more. Rewatching this video specifically brought me back, as it is one of my favorites that she ever uploaded. It reminded me of how much I used to really love her videos and how excited I got for the notification that she uploaded.
But my absolute favorite memory that I unlocked in the process of rewatching Bethany’s videos was the monthly “favorites.” Month to month, Bethany would make a video highlighting different products she’d been using recently. She’d allocate time in the video to talk about makeup/beauty products, non-beauty products (clothes/foods/etc.) and her music favorites for the month. At the end of the video she’d share her monthly playlist with subscribers and would announce a giveaway including some of the items highlighted in the video. I loved that each month it felt like I had some new products to buy, and another hopeless giveaway to enter. In all honesty, these videos are probably what drew me to Bethany’s channel the most. If she were to revive any part of her channel, this would definitely be my pick.
Bethany would end up leaving her channel for months at a time with seemingly no explanation. Viewers became angry and her subscriber count dropped. She addressed the absences multiple times and it was always because of the same thing – she was tired. Bethany had spent the better half of her life on the internet, under public scrutiny. She wanted to know who she was without the camera. So she left. She changed over the years and grew up behind the scenes. Bethany admitted that she had been trying -and failing- to keep up with her “good girl” image for years. SO she began to upload videos and create content that felt more authentic to her. She made videos with her boyfriend, played drinking games and began to swear in her videos. She stopped uploading D.I.Y. life hacks and began working towards cultivating a more “adult” image for herself. That’s not to say she has lost the personality that drew millions in for years, though. Bethany still creates videos of her morning routines, still does try-on clothing hauls and still allows viewers a glimpse into her life with Q&A videos–the only difference is now it seems that she’s finally being honest.
Bethany’s channel won’t ever be the same, and that is okay. She grew up and so did I. Millions of people were impacted by her on some level, and she managed to create a brand for herself that spanned across multiple platforms. Despite “falling off” when it comes to mainstream media, her’s is still a success story.
Bethany is back to uploading on YouTube and her channel has undergone a lot of changes since 2009. Most recently, she has uploaded a life update, a reading challenge and a gas station food challenge. After watching these videos, I’m confident that she is making content that she actually wants to make. For a long time, Bethany tried to cater to the audience she had built instead of trying to grow with them. Her journey on YouTube can act as a cautionary tale, not only for big-name content creators but also for the rest of us. If you don’t love the work you’re doing, you’re not going to feel proud of it. And if you don’t feel proud of it, your audience is going to be able to see that. My fall favorites have changed a lot since my pre-teens. But one thing’s for certain: Bethany Mota is back at the top of that list.